Converters... You get what you pay for
12-20-2006, 11:12 PM
#22
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Originally Posted by Quickin
What kind of low-life shop does this and sells it to people?
Too many to list. There are several companies that sell on eBay and there are some here on the board I'm sure. It really is true, you get what you pay for. It's not so much a matter of whether or not the advertised stall is what you get or whether or not it's "furnice brazed"....etc. The problem is that many of these convertor manufacturers don't understand that these cars, OUR cars, are in most cases daily driven weekend warriors. These companys may build one hell of a convertor for a TH350 or TH400 which doesn't have lock-up. It's a totaly different animal when it comes to a daily driven F-body with a lock-up convertor. The convertor clutch is being cycled on and off as you accelerate up to cruise speed and then have to hit the brakes for the guy that pulls out in front of you or when you hit the next red light and then accelerate up to cruise speed again. Lather, rinse, repeat sort of driving. It really gets a work out. If you do mostly highway driving where you just accelerate up to cruise speed once and the car goes into lock-up one time for the entire trip to work you may not experience a problem with one of these convertors. Or, if you NEVER make it up to a speed fast enough for the PCM to command lock-up because your entire trip to work is stop and go L.A. type bumper to bumper traffic you may never experience a failure with this type of convertor. Spend your money and take your chances.
12-20-2006, 11:23 PM
#24
Many people sell converters that are sub standard its true spend you money but remember ours arent actually intended to sell by themselves we wouldnt sell a converter with our trans that was inferior.......it would be like biting our nose off to save our face
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12-20-2006, 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by performabuilt
Many people sell converters that are sub standard its true spend you money but remember ours arent actually intended to sell by themselves we wouldnt sell a converter with our trans that was inferior.......it would be like biting our nose off to save our face
I would like to know what brand that converter was. BTW, I would love to buy one of yours but my dad bought me one that came out of one os his friends cars, he loved it and had no issues with it, but he is going to a turbo set up so he bought a new one, anyway it's a midwest 3500 2.5 str and he had it fulshed for me and hell he only has 175 in the t/c because they were friends, I am just a little nerves about it.
the friend of my Dad is very trustworthy
12-21-2006, 08:33 AM
#32
Here is an example of a horrible converter builder:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Caval...spagenameZWDVW
This guys says he will build a converter for a Cavalier or Sunfire. Well, look at the pic! Damn, you are going to have tons of trouble getting that huge hub into a 4T40E. He also declares tig welding to be superior to furance brazing. The pricing of 130 dollars leaves me to wonder what you are really getting. And I am hoping it is NOT a TH converter that he dug up in a junkyard. Maybe someone should tell him that late model Jbodies don't use a TH series transmission.
The killer is how he claims that this is the best converter you could buy. ???
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Caval...spagenameZWDVW
This guys says he will build a converter for a Cavalier or Sunfire. Well, look at the pic! Damn, you are going to have tons of trouble getting that huge hub into a 4T40E. He also declares tig welding to be superior to furance brazing. The pricing of 130 dollars leaves me to wonder what you are really getting. And I am hoping it is NOT a TH converter that he dug up in a junkyard. Maybe someone should tell him that late model Jbodies don't use a TH series transmission.
The killer is how he claims that this is the best converter you could buy. ???
12-21-2006, 08:48 AM
#33
I went and looked at that auction I dont know a thing about them and there write ups not so good, but did want to say that the picture its says is a stock photo and they use that same one in all there auctions you will note at bottom reguadless of what its for .
Though if I was them I think I would try and take pics even find some on the net if I had to of a converter similar to what I was advertising to avoid confusion but like I say the auction is poorly done anyway , Just what I noted from looking (two cents)lol
Though if I was them I think I would try and take pics even find some on the net if I had to of a converter similar to what I was advertising to avoid confusion but like I say the auction is poorly done anyway , Just what I noted from looking (two cents)lol
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12-21-2006, 09:52 AM
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Originally Posted by GMRACER13
I see these all the time. All it is is a 4 cyl. converter with an adapter ring or adapter lugs welded on so it will bolt to a V8 flywheel and 4L60E hub welded on to mate with the pump. In the first pic you can see where the adapter lug is bolted with an allen bolt to the original 4 cyl. lug in order to make it fit a flexplate with a larger bolt circle! The lock up clutch isn't large enough to handle the weight and torque of a V8 powered F-body. The clutch in that convertor is approx. an inch wide where as quality stall convertors have clutches that are more than twice as wide as that. This is the reason why companies like PI or Yank have billet front covers specially machined. In order to get a lock-up clutch in a 9"-10" convertor with the same surface area as the stock lock-up clutch you MUST use a custom made front cover with a larger surface area in conjunction with a wider clutch. Do some searches and look at some pictures of aftermarket high stall convertors for the 4L60E. You will notice that the expensive ones ALL have a billet front cover (the side facing the engine which bolts to the flexplate) and all the inexpensive ones don't.
I know people are going to come in here and say "I have brand X convertor and have no problems" and "You don't know what you're talking about newbie" and the only response I can give is that you are in the minority and have somehow been lucky. Others will say, "For the price who cares. I'll take my chances". Just know that when the convertor has a catastrophic failure it usually damages the transmission (i.e. $$$$$). Some people will learn from your misfortune but the vast majority will have to learn the hard way.
I know people are going to come in here and say "I have brand X convertor and have no problems" and "You don't know what you're talking about newbie" and the only response I can give is that you are in the minority and have somehow been lucky. Others will say, "For the price who cares. I'll take my chances". Just know that when the convertor has a catastrophic failure it usually damages the transmission (i.e. $$$$$). Some people will learn from your misfortune but the vast majority will have to learn the hard way.
Billet just simply means the part was machined from a large block of material.
Last edited by trigger1; 12-21-2006 at 10:12 AM.
12-21-2006, 12:03 PM
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TCI is probaly the trashiest converter out there. Fuddle drives like **** on the street. I'm gonna try Yank next but two locals I know have blown up them as well.
12-21-2006, 01:27 PM
#40
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Originally Posted by The1N_only
Well, i dont really want to say publically what brand this was because they was a sponser here at one time, got kicked off and now i think they are back on here. I now have a Yank PT4400
I think we can figure it out from there.
I would never deal with Fuddle again simply because of the way they operate. Even if they had a good product.
You really do get what you pay for, and the converter is not the place to save money.